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The video also attacks and humiliates UK citizen Pelevine, pictured right, who has been a constant critic of the Russian leadership, especially over its actions in Chechnya and lack of democracy

It appeared to have been filmed by a hidden camera in a dressing table in the bedroom of a Moscow flat apparently used for covert liaisons between the couple.

Who was behind the filming is unclear, but the purpose was evidently to embarrass the opposition figures who are also heard savaging other so-called allies in an anti-Putin front ahead of upcoming elections.

Pelevine has been active in the Russian opposition for around a decade. Soviet-born, her parents emigrated to Britain before the collapse of the USSR when she was a child.

After moving to England she attended a private school, Southbank International, before undertaking a BA in Art History from a London university.

Married Kasyanov is purportedly with his secret lover - an activist in his RPR Parnas party who also had a role as his aide - with partially-pixelated scenes of nudity and intimacy

A naked man, thought to be former Kremlin prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov, stands naked next to a woman laying on the bed

Pelevine, thought to be pictured standing up. has been active in the Russian opposition for around a decade. Soviet-born, her parents emigrated to Britain before the collapse of the USSR when she was a child

After obtaining her degree she performed in a number of theatre productions, including a stint in Hamlet at the Edinburgh Festival.

Pelevine has appeared as a political commentator on several TV and radio channels, including the BBC, in which she has oppposed the current Russian government.

The NTV screening claimed she regularly travelled to the United States and was in contact with Senator John McCain and investment banker William Browder, who has become a leading Western critic of Putin's government.

Former presidential candidate McCain chairs the National Endowment for Democracy, which Russia has declared an undesirable organisation.

Browder was the employer of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer whose death in custody led to the USA imposing the Magnitsky sanctions against selected Russian officials.

Contracts were shown which claimed to show she was in their pay.

Kasyanov is thought to be one of the few of Putin's rivals who could seriously challenge the current President

She was also said to have contacts with associates of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, now seeking the Democrat nomination for the US presidential election.

The film claimed she had been charged last month with a possession of a 'spy pen' with a hidden camera for covert filming.

There was no immediate comment from Kasyanov on the footage while Pelevine was reported as saying she would take legal action against NTV.

The 40 minute broadcast recalled another infamous sex tape from the chaotic years of crisis and calamity under former president Boris Yeltsin.

In 1999 prosecutor general Yuri Skuratov was pushed aside after being filmed in a Moscow flat with two prostitutes.

There was no immediate comment from Kasyanov on the footage while Pelevine was reported as saying she would take legal action against NTV